Campaigns and Advocacy
Forum activities are driven by the themes of the Refugee Charter for Manchester.
BASIC RIGHTS
Congratulations to everyone involved as a volunteer or participant in the highly successful Annual Forum event with the UK Borders Agency on 10th June!
170 refugees, asylum seekers and supporters raised concerns and quizzed UK Borders Agency representatives about the running of the asylum process from the new case owner asylum system, to case resolution (legacy cases), reporting, detention and the investigation of complaints.
Questions of policy such as the right to work or access university for asylum seekers were left unanswered but Gill Mortlock the Regional Director of the UK Border Agency committed to working with the Forum to get policy makers at the next event.
After continued pressure from members of the Refugee & Migrant Forum Manchester, the UK Borders Agency announced at another stakeholder event on 18th June that they have increased the staffing on the telephone line at Dallas Court, and recognised that they need ways of finding out what asylum seekers, refugees and the voluntary and community sector think about their services.
Meetings with Enforcement & Compliance Team at Dallas Court
Refugee community leaders continue to meet with UK Borders Agency staff and lobby for changes to their policies and procedures. The Basic Rights group holds quarterly consultation and feedback events with community members who are reporting at Dallas Court to monitor some of the changes that staff at Dallas Court say have been introduced, to collect evidence and to consult on priorities. Please see News & Events for details of the next event and Publications & Resources for meeting minutes, the current action plan and the Forum's 2006 consultation report on community members' and immigration advisors' experiences of what was the UK Immigration Service at Dallas Court.
Independent Asylum Commission
The Independent Asylum Commission have now published their interim findings 'Fit for Purpose Yet?' which can be downloaded or requested in hard copy.
In July 2007, Forum members and volunteers coordinated a collection of evidence event which gathered a total of 51 written and video testimonies which have been considered as evidence by the Commission.
There are plans for establishing a Regional Campaign Action Team to take forward the Commissions recommendations - see their website for more information.
HEALTHCARE
High Court judgement on refused asylum seekers and entitlement to NHS healthcare - April 2008
A
recent judicial review hearing ruled that most refused asylum seekers
are now entitled to free NHS secondary (e.g. hospital) care and have
the right to
register with a GP. Prior to this judgment, refused asylum
seekers were not entitled to free NHS secondary care (with some
exceptions) and had restricted rights to register with a GP. You can
download a full briefing paper on this decision here.
If you know a refused asylum seeker who is being refused access to a GP
or to hospital treatment, or being asked to pay, please contact Medact
on (0)20 7324 4739 or at info@medact.org.
Access to Primary Care
Forum community leaders, health professionals, migrant organisations and a range of local and national charities led by Medact have been campaigning to raise awareness about and build opposition to Home Office proposals to restrict access to Primary Care (e.g. GP services) for refused asylum seekers.
The proposals are being debated as part of a joint Home Office and Department of Health review into access to the NHS by foreign nationals but the outcome of the review has been repeatedly delayed. A three month consultation period will follow.
See News & Events for outcomes of the recent campaign event, presentations and handouts from the day.
EDUCATION
Children & Education
The Forum recently conducted a mapping of advocacy work and service provision for young asylum seekers and refugees in Manchester which highlighed a number of gaps particularly regarding support for children in schools. The report also contains practical recommendations for the Forum and the City Council Children's Services.
Following this mapping exercise, members of Greater Manchester refugee community organisations discussed their concerns at the latest Integration Forum and raised them with a representative from Children's Services. A meeting is now to be arranged with the ten new 'School Effectiveness Officers' for interested community members in Manchester.
The Forum has a representative on the Children & Education Working Group of the City Council race equality initiative Agenda 2010. The initiative has the aim of achieving certain targets for race equality in the city by the year 2010. The working groups have had mixed levels of success and the functions of most groups have been brought into the mainstream working groups of the local strategic partnership. The Children & Education working group is the only one to continue.
Save ESOL Campaign
The Learning and Skills Council's
announcement that asylum seekers would no longer have access to free
English classes as of August 2007 was met with huge opposition from
many organisations and institutions in the UK. In Manchester, the
Refugee & Migrant Forum led a local letter writing and media
campaign against the changes in partnerships with other local networks
and agencies. The Forum also sent a delegation to the national lobby of
parliament in February and met with four Greater Manchester MPs to ask
them to sign EDM 383.
The following week, key concessions were announced which included the decision that asylum seekers waiting for longer than six months for a decision or appeal on their claim will be entitled to free English classes and those in receipt of Section 4 support (full story). The national Save ESOL campaign led by the University and Colleges Union continues - see their website for further details.
EMPLOYMENT
Right to Work Campaign
Forum members are supporting the Refugee Council and the Trade Union Congress with a new campaign to regain the right to work for asylum seekers.
Campaigners will be going out and interviewing refugees and asylum seekers about their experiences to collect testimonies for the campaign and working with people who are interested to prepare them to speak at local meetings of trade unions and professional bodies.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Ask asylum seekers and refugees you know who have a strong story to tell if they would like to participate in the campaign. Perhaps they would like to speak about about the impact of not having the right to work on their life in the UK or perhaps how having the right to work as an asylum seeker has led to a successful career.
- Ask your local trade union branch or professional body if a Forum member can come and speak at a meeting about their experiences and why your union may want to support the campaign
- Contact Zoe at MRSN on 0161 232 7420 for more information about the campaign locally or to arrange a speaker.
- Contact Refugee Council for more information on the national campaign - www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
COMMUNITY COHESION
Changemakers
Forum community leaders have worked in partnership with Church Action on Poverty and the Manchester Faith Network to establish a 'broad based organisation' in Manchester called Changemakers. Broad based organising is when a large number of organisations who share the same values such as a belief in social justice, human rights or equal opportunities join together to form one large membership organisation with the aim of working together to influence decision-making on issues facing different communities within a city. Members might include faith organisations, migrant and BME groups, environmental groups, trade unions, residents groups - the broader the membership base the stronger the influence of the organisation. Contact Mark Waters at Church Action on Poverty to find out more.